Health care providers and service companies mostly fell with the market Friday, with insurers taking some of the biggest losses.

Shares of health care providers and service companies rose Thursday as reports of lower unemployment claims and strong retail sales lifted the markets.

America's Health Insurance Plans, the trade group that represents the health insurance industry, spent $1.8 million lobbying the federal government in the first quarter.

Health insurance provider Aetna Inc. spent more than $575,000 in the first quarter to lobby on Medicare and pharmaceutical issues, according to a disclosure report.

Shares of health care providers and service companies are wavering in afternoon trading after the Federal Reserve lowered two key interest rates by one-fourth of a point.

Shares of health insurer Humana Inc. gained slightly Monday after the company's first-quarter profit topped Wall Street forecasts, but its peers mostly slipped lower following last week's series of disappointing results.

With stocks sharply lower today, shareholders need to protect their portfolios. So what are some of the best defensive stock picks? CNBC asked the experts.

Kevin Rendino describes himself as a "large-cap value contrarian."  What could that mean for your portfolio?  "I sort of go where the world is not focused on today," the BlackRock portfolio manager told CNBC.  "I end up selling stocks when valuation and expectation levels get very high."

A profit warning from WellPoint suggests that U.S. health insurers may not be a safe bet for investors to put their money in a troubled economy.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday said he will sue Ingenix, its parent UnitedHealth Group and three subsidiaries, saying the insurers are defrauding consumers by manipulating how much doctors and hospitals are reimbursed.

The New York Attorney General's Office said it plans to file suit against Ingenix, its parent UnitedHealth Group, and three additional subsidiaries, as part of an investigation into a "scheme by health insurers to defraud consumers by manipulating reimbursement rates."

H&R Block, the largest U.S. tax preparer, said that Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Ernst had resigned, following mounting losses tied to subprime mortgages.

Aetna on Thursday posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit as membership increased, and the health insurer raised its full-year forecast.